TCRNo11 Day 3 // Marginal Gains – Physical, Emotional, Spiritual

Words by Jake Thorpe

Photos by Matt Grayson, Tomás Montes, and Yorit Kluitman

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A Strategic Split

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Into the afternoon on Day 2, the first significant strategic split began to take shape. The fastest men hugged the coast, slipping beside the Pyrenees. It might be flatter, but those taking this route will have to contend with heavier traffic on the busy coastal roads and, by all accounts, duller riding. 

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Alternatively, other riders – including most of the race’s fastest women – headed inland to approach the parcours via the Col du Portalet. Most, but not all. Lael Wilcox (112), ever the pioneer, cut a path against the grain of the Basque Country’s wrinkled crust, stitching together lumpy off-road sections with stints on tarmac before crossing the border into France to rejoin those retreating from the coast.

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It’s a curious choice. The highest of her passes is only marginally lower than the Portalet – the popular option amongst the climbers – and, though initially more direct, once she reaches the parcours, she will be forced to climb up to its start before she can descend back into the valley to tackle the Col d’Aubisque. Perhaps her decision hung on scenic strands; as Lael established when we caught up yesterday, for her, if it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing. 

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The argument about what impact the allure of each route has on its relative speed is an interesting one. Shaving 10 minutes off an ETA can look tempting when the route sits, impassively, in 2D on the screen of a home monitor. But when that track finally animates, unfurling itself in sharp relief around you, such obtuse sentiments have been known to wither. In the end, races like the TCR are won and lost not in the physical realm, but on a different plane entirely. The emotional journey – which, after close to 1,000 km on the move, can already feel faintly spiritual – often dictates whether riders are in a space to capitalise on key opportunities when they arise, or make the crucial decision to rest when necessary. This is what levels the playing field. Marginal aerodynamic gains, power-to-weight ratios and FTPs hold little water in this arena.

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Catching up with Lael on the final stretch of the Aubisque late in the day, it became clear it had indeed been a marginal advantage of the emotional variety that she had sought through the Basque hills. Having already sampled the traffic of Pamplona during her round the world record, Lael was happy to avoid a second bout, considering, instead, a “last-minute” diversion; 20 km longer, with between 500 and 1000 m more climbing. When it came to crunch time, her thoughts were gloriously succinct: “Fuck it.” She admitted, for a moment, to have wondered, “Am I being crazy?” But, as her decision began to bear optical fruit, any doubts subsided.

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A Game of Probability

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Ordinarily, there’d likely have been little objective difference between the coastal and mountain approaches to the second parcours; in fact, that very dilemma was integral to the parcours’ design. The race aims to force such choices. Local knowledge, however, might have supplied riders with a choice nugget, had they sought it; a little morsel to tip the balance. Those familiar with the climate of the Basque Country will tell you that, in Summer, the coast sees rain, while the mountains, though cloudy, often remain dry. 

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By mid-morning on Day 3, reports had begun to trickle in confirming this phenomenon. Riders on the flatter, coastal route slogged along soggy national roads, while those heading inland were treated to a still, cool, and crucially dry morning.

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Enjoying the crisp, early conditions was Jana Kesenheimer (001) – still leading the women’s field 60 hours into the race. Having earned 6th place at 2022’s Trans Pyrenees, the fastest woman that year, Jana was already well acquainted with her route. For her, the approach to the parcours bore no dilemma. In fact, the mountains were calling. Having made light work of the Picos, she welcomed the Pyrenees with open arms.

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Unsurprisingly, many of the riders en route to the Portalet were content with their pick. Markus Zimmerman (153) cited wind as his reason to cut inland. It’s just possible, however, that there were other motives at play. Markus – having spent the previous night in one of Northern Spain’s less comfortable ditches – had traded rags for riches, hunting down a luxury hotel in which to bed down. Trading a sky full of stars for a five-star suite was, allegedly, unavoidable, with the latter the only available accommodation. His room had boasted two showers, one for each half of his body. At 6’5”, he needs it. But despite the €225 hole in his pocket, he was in good spirits. After 4 hours of sleep, he woke “feeling like a million bucks.” At less than €60 an hour, it appears his rest was more than the sum of its parts.

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The Circle of Death

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Whatever their route, riders are charging forwards in pursuit of a common goal: the second parcours. Between the first and second controls, those in the leading pack will have spent more than 30 hours in the saddle. A significant chunk of this time will, for even the quickest riders, have been spent tackling the race’s second parcours. 

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This parcours hangs, strung out along the mountainside – a shelf of tarmac chiseled into the sweeping slabs of the Cirque du Litor. Curtains of rock cradle the basin below, their ripples and folds exalted, occasionally, in shafts of sunlight before retreating once more into the ominous gloom of the mountain mist.

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Riders, will, by the second control, have knocked off three fifths of the Circle of Death – a famed quintet of climbs, a version of which has featured in 45 editions of the Tour de France to date. Its first appearance came in 1910, on the Tour’s inaugural high-mountain stage.

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As historians of the Tour will no doubt be aware, three years later, in 1913, one of these fabled climbs gave rise to one of the race’s most iconic tales.

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The Tourmalet Incident

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In the sixth stage of the Tour in 1913, Race Leader Eugène Christophe, then heading the General Classification by 18 minutes, paused at the top of the Tourmalet to flip his back wheel – just as Sergey Shlubin (104), tackling the TCR on a single speed, will now do, 112 years later. Needless to say, back then, every Tour rider raced on single speed bikes equipped with a flip-flop hub, providing an easier gear for climbing and smaller sprocket for the descents and the flats. 

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Plunging into the valley below, Christophe quickly gathered pace. All of a sudden, disaster struck. Mid descent, his steel fork sheared in the head tube. Shouldering his bike, he trekked the 10 kilometres  into Ste-Marie-de-Campan in search of a forge. At that point, the Tour was ruthless in its stipulation that riders race self-sufficiently; it’s this spirit of racing that Mike Hall, in creating the Transcontinental, set out to revive.

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Having spent 3 hours reconstituting his own fork once more into a coherent whole, Christophe was awarded a 10 minute penalty –  later reduced to three – for having had a seven-year-old boy pump the bellows. The incident cost him the race.

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At registration, several steel forks were spotted amongst the assembled bikes of TCRNo11. We hope that riders heed the lessons of Eugene’s misfortune.

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The Sharp End Takes Shape

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Safely over the Tourmalet with all forks intact, the front pack, which has now taken shape, pressed on to the second control. 

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First over the pass and back down into the valley to claim CP2’s first stamp was Nicolas Chatelet (046), keeping a firm grip on his early lead. The volunteer crew reported Nicolas’ blinkered focus. To date, there hasn’t been a French winner of the TCR. But to talk of the end so early in the day risks foolish conjecture.

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Hot on his heels, just 17 minutes behind the Frenchman, Martin Moritz (297) arrived at CP2 having also held ground. Martin took 2nd at the Granguanche audax this year – a curious race dotted across the islands of Gran Canaria, the objective of which is to connect all scheduled ferries in a non-stop ride. Given his nautical experience, we expect the tactical trial of the Adriatic could prove more trivial for Martin than most.

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Rounding out the top three to the second control, Victor Bosoni (232), having gained two places from the first, tailed Martin by a little over half an hour. Victor now tops the points leaderboard – a classification of cumulative parcours times which opened today – by a convincing margin. We wonder if the Boy Wonder has seen orange, and is now charging down the matador of a multi-category win.

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Sardines for Strittmatter 

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A little further back, Control Car 1 caught up with Lucas Strittmatter (008) at the top of the historic Portalet – only the second rider, at that point, to have favoured this mountainous approach. Lucas admitted the race so far had left him “exhausted.” Regardless, he sounded calm and collected when we spoke. Despite coming fresh from a top 10 finish at TCRNo10, he has still chosen to tweak his race strategy. Sleep is top of his agenda this year, something that has no doubt contributed to his composure.

In need of some sustenance after the sustained slog of the Portalet, Lucas stopped to refuel at the summit – the watershed that divides France and Spain. Clearly a little perplexed at the shop’s bias towards intoxicants – a consequence of the neighbours’ differing domestic tax policies – Lucas emerged looking a little light on the ground; a tin of sardines the only legacy of his re-supply. 

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Message in a Bidon

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Lucas was followed to CP2 by Steven Davis (330), who cached a message with the control crew for his partner and fellow rider, Cynthia Carson (137). “Keep on doing what you do best.” 

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When we caught up with Cynthia through Gourette on her way up the Aubisque, she was doing just that. She had chosen the Portalet approach on statistical grounds; as a keen climber, trading distance for elevation is always an attractive proposition. But, as the great ridges of the Pyrenees had risen around her, ancient and reptilian, the beauty of her choice had come into focus. Having been on the move for nearly 20 hours that day, when she left us, Cynthia was planning to bed down again before tackling the Tourmalet at dawn.

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Scratch Report

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Marin de Saint-Exupéry (010) – Rider scratched 17:46 CEST 30/7 via sms due to motivational issues.

Veit Fiedler (146) – Rider scratched 15:00 CEST 30/7 via phone call due to sore feet and achilles.

Loris Volkart (349) – Rider scratched 14:46 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp due to Shermer’s Neck.

Ian Mitchinson (030) – Rider scratched 14:22 CEST 30/7 via email due to knee injury.

Rob Dalby (380b) – Rider scratched 13:06 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp due to partner suffering saddle sores.

Claire Sharpe (380a) – Rider scratched 13:06 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp due to saddle sores.

Dennis Astakhov (235) – Rider scratched 12:17 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp due to fatigue.

Mark Fangen-Hall (298) – Rider scratched 11:48 CEST 30/7 via sms due to sickness.

Jani Hursti (106) – Rider scratched 11:39 CEST 30/7 via email due to missing CP1.

Julia Winkler (231) – Rider scratched 8:59 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp due to a crash resulting in injury.

Emily Lamson (386b) – Rider scratched 8:38 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp - they have decided to travel in touring mode instead of racing.

Bradley Lamson (386a) – Rider scratched 8:38 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp - they have decided to travel in touring mode instead of racing.

Ewa Trzetrzelewska (011) – Rider scratched 8:35 CEST 30/7 via WhatsApp due to fatigue.

Laine Viisitamm (189) – Rider scratched 8:34 CEST 30/7 via sms - no reason given.

David Mould (329) – Rider scratched 8:20 CEST 30/7 by handing his tracker back to race-coordinator, cause: knee pain.

Vedangi Kulkarni (243) – Rider scratched 00:37 CEST 30/7 via email due to mechanical issues.

Vera Marti (324) – Rider scratched 22:15 CEST 29/7 via WhatsApp due to saddle sores.

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